EUROPEAN MIDDAY BRIEFING - Stocks Fall, -2-

Economic expectations in Germany rebounded at the beginning of the year after falling the previous month as financial market experts expected the hit from the Covid-19 Omicron wave to be short-lived, the ZEW economic research institute said Tuesday.

The index of economic expectations increased to 51.7 in January from 29.9 in December, topping the 32.5 consensus forecast from economists polled by The Wall Street Journal and the highest reading since July.

UK Labor Market Tightened in December Despite Omicron Woes

The number of people employed in the U.K. rose in December and unemployment continued to fall, signaling that the end of the furlough program and the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant didn't weaken the country's labor market.

Staff on businesses' payrolls increased by 184,000 in December compared with the previous month, to 29.5 million, according to data from the Office for National Statistics released Tuesday.

Hugo Boss Gets Into Gear as 4Q Online Sales Surge

Higher online sales and good brand development helped Hugo Boss AG record consensus-beating top-line growth in the final quarter of 2021, as the German premium-fashion company's sales strategy appears to be bearing fruit.

According to preliminary figures released Tuesday, Hugo Boss made sales of 906 million euros ($1.03 billion) in the fourth quarter, up by more than half on-year at constant currency, and 12% higher than in the same period of 2019, before the global pandemic hit.

888 Holdings Sees 2021 Revenue Growth of 14% on Expansion in Regulated Markets

888 Holdings PLC said Tuesday that it expects to report revenue growth of 14% for 2021, driven by an expansion in regulated markets.

The online betting and gaming company said it anticipates revenue for the year of $972 million compared with $850 million a year earlier. Growth was driven by regulated and taxed markets, with strong performances in the U.K., Italy, Romania and Portugal.

EU New Car Sales Fell in December

Passenger-car registrations across the European Union fell in December, marking the sixth consecutive month of decline in 2021, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association.

New car registrations--a reflection of sales--declined roughly 23% on year to 795,295 vehicles for the month, the ACEA said Tuesday. In the January-December period, registrations for new passenger cars in the EU stood at 9.7 million, down 2.4% on year mainly due to the semiconductor shortage's hit on production.

Rolls-Royce, Bentley, BMW Sales Surge as Cheaper Brands Lag Behind

BERLIN-Luxury car brands such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Porsche and BMW have reported record sales, thanks to customers who have craved them and manufacturers that have directed scarce chips toward their most profitable models.

With international travel stalled during the pandemic and many avenues of flashy spending closed to them, a young generation of luxury-car consumers went on a shopping spree last year.

Rio Tinto Full-Year Australian Iron-Ore Shipments Fall; 2022 Exports Likely Higher

Rio Tinto PLC said annual iron-ore shipments from its Australian mining operations fell by 3% in 2021 as projects were disrupted by a worker shortage and supply chain issues, but said shipments will likely increase this year.

The world's No. 2 mining company by market value said 321.6 million metric tons of iron ore were shipped from its operations in remote northwest Australia last year. Fourth-quarter shipments were down 5% year-over-year at 84.1 million tons, the miner said.

Credit Suisse's António Horta-Osório Lost Board Support Over Covid-19 Rules Breach

He came to fix Credit Suisse Group AG's broken culture. Then he became part of the problem.

António Horta-Osório was hoping for a slap on the wrist Sunday from the Credit Suisse board for breaking coronavirus quarantine rules on trips to events, according to people familiar with his departure. Instead, he had to leave his job as the bank's chairman for not upholding the high standards he set when joining Credit Suisse eight months ago.

Yemen's Houthi Rebels Claim Aerial Attacks on U.A.E. Capital

Yemen's Houthi rebels said they were behind aerial attacks in the United Arab Emirates that killed three people on Monday, as intensifying fighting in a 7-year-old civil war spills out across the broader Middle East.

The Houthis, who are backed by Iran, said they had targeted Abu Dhabi with ballistic and cruise missiles and a large number of drones in retaliation for a recent escalation by the U.A.E. in Yemen, where Emirati-backed militants last week dealt the Houthis an unexpected defeat in the oil-rich province of Shabwa. The Emiratis have intensified their efforts recently in support of local militants in Yemen in a Saudi-led coalition that had suffered defeats.

GLOBAL NEWS

Bond Yields Hit Two-Year High as Stock Futures Fall

U.S. stock futures fell and bond yields hit two-year highs, intensifying investor fears that rising interest rates will set back the large technology stocks that have come to dominate markets.

Futures for the S&P 500 fell 1% Tuesday, after U.S. markets were shut Monday for a public holiday. Contracts for the tech-focused Nasdaq-100 declined 1.6% and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7%.

Offices Are Leased Up, Thanks to Cash Gifts for Tenants, Months of Free Rent

The recent recovery of U.S. office rents owes much of its success to something landlords hate to discuss: all the freebies, cash gifts and other incentives they have to fork over to tenants.

These sort of payouts have long existed to a degree in the office, retail real-estate and apartment markets, especially in places like New York City and San Francisco. But they have never been so big or so commonplace as they are in urban office markets these days, real-estate brokers say.

With Rate Increases Looming, Investors Dump Shares of Money-Losing Companies

Moonshot stocks are coming back to Earth.

As the Federal Reserve moves closer to raising interest rates, investors are repricing their bets on one of the riskiest corners of the market: shares of companies that don't make money. Cash-burning technology firms, biotechnology companies without any approved drugs and startups that listed quickly via mergers with blank-check companies-some of which soared during the pandemic-have dropped sharply.

BOJ Raises Inflation Expectations Amid Pandemic-Related Supply Shortages

TOKYO-The Bank of Japan raised its price forecast slightly amid pandemic-related supply shortages, although it still expects its 2% inflation target won't be reached for at least the next two years.

In its quarterly outlook released Tuesday, the bank's policy board projected inflation would increase 1.1% in the year ending March 2023 and 1.1% in the following year, up from previous projections for 0.9% and 1.0%, respectively.

China PBOC Aims to Act Forcefully to Help Stabilize Economy

China's central bank said Tuesday that it would act early and more forcefully to help stabilize the economy in 2022, a politically important year for Chinese leaders.

The People's Bank of China plans to guide financial institutions to expand their credit issuance this year, and will use multiple monetary instruments to keep market liquidity reasonably ample, said Liu Guoqiang, vice governor at the central bank, during a briefing.

BlackRock's Climate Stance Is About Profits, Not Politics, Larry Fink Says

Larry Fink's efforts to get companies to adopt climate-friendly policies have led some to call him an activist. The BlackRock Inc. chairman and chief executive prefers a different label: capitalist.

In his annual letter to the CEOs of the companies in which BlackRock invests, Mr. Fink said businesses that don't plan for a carbon-free future risk being left behind. The quest for long-term returns, and not politics, is what animates the money manager's efforts, he wrote.

China's Zero-Covid Policies Cause a Traffic Jam in Vietnam as Farmers Suffer

China's zero-Covid policies are putting Chinese cities into lockdown and grounding air travel anew. They are also disrupting trade routes across its land borders that are lifelines for the region's farmers and merchants.

In neighboring Vietnam, thousands of trucks laden with dragon fruit, jackfruit, watermelons and other produce have been backed up at the border awaiting passage for weeks. Their trips were disrupted after Chinese authorities toward the end of last year suspended operations at a number of gates or slowed traffic citing a need to contain Covid-19.

Taliban Intensify Efforts to Take Control of Afghanistan's Overseas Embassies

ROME-Five months after the Taliban seized Kabul, Afghanistan's new rulers are stepping up their campaign to gain control of the country's embassies abroad, most of which continue to be run by diplomats appointed by the former, U.S.-backed government.

No foreign capital has formally recognized the Taliban. And nearly all of the country's 65 diplomatic missions still fly the flag of the fallen Afghan republic-though after the Aug. 15 flight of former President Ashraf Ghani from Kabul, they have no government to represent.

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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-18-22 0646ET